IrelandCulture

=History in Ireland= toc Ireland is a country which has a rich and ancient culture with traditions stemming back to thousands of years ago. The Irish culture is a result of numerous invasions by colonies and countries that settled in Ireland.

Celts
Celtic tribes invaded ireland between the years of 600-150 BC and evidence of these inhabitants can still be seen today around Ireland. The Celts also introduced a form of Celtic language to the Irish which is still in use today but is more commonly known as Gaeilge today. The Celtic culture starting to disappear when the Norsemen invaded Ireland in the late 8th century. For nearly a 1000 years however the Celts were the governing boday within Ireland.

Norsemen
The first Norse invasion occured in 795 when the Norsemen attacked a monastery near Dublin. By the mid 800's the Norsemen were using Ireland's river system to attack more inland destinations, all the time using Ireland's capital, Dublin, as their base. The most notable evidence of the Viking culture within Ireland can be seen in Dublin, when in the 20th century a Viking port was discovered in the Dublin docklands. This discovery gave light to Viking ways of life. Many Irish surnames can be derived from ancient Viking names with examples such as; MacManus (Son of Magnus) and Doyle (Dark Foreigner).

English
English invasions in ireland began in the 12th entury and lasted for nearly 7 centuries. There was a constant struggle between the Irish and the English marked by fierce repressions and rebellions. A 1916 Easter Rebellion touched off several years of guerilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independance from the UK for 26 countries, with 6 northern countries remaining part of the UK to be known as Northern Ireland. In 1948, Ireland removed itself from the British Commonwealth, and in 1973 joined the European Union. Nowadays Ireland and Britain have excellent trade relationships and have begun to negotiate a peace agreement for the North of Ireland. This peace agreement was needed after numerous deadly confrontations between an Irish guerilla army named the Irish Republican Army and the British forces

Here is a video displaying the kind of confrontations the North of Ireland has experienced over the last 30 years;

media type="youtube" key="gNsLJd3-LgI" height="344" width="425"

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